Kulbhushan Jadhav's friends pray for his release

With the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing the case of former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by Pakistan on charges of being a spy, his friends continued to pray for him.

"The stay on execution has lit a ray of hope. But now everything depends on today's hearing. We are continuously praying that the judgement should be in Kulbhushan's favour. He is an ordinary and innocent man, he must be released," said Vandana Panwar, Kulbhushan Jadhav's friend.

"We gave a free trial to a terrorist like Kasab and Pakistan hasn't even revealed in what condition Kulbhushan is in. We hope we will get justice from the International Court of Justice and bring him back to India," Jadhav's friend Vijay Kanojiya said.

Kanojiya said there are almost 70,000 signatories that there should be a discussion at the White House regarding this case.

Praveen Bhoj another friend, said, "India has international support in this case. We hope that Kulbhushan gets justice. We thank the present government for pursuing this case so well."

The ICJ on May 9 had put a stay on the death sentence given by Pakistan to the alleged Indian spy.

The development came after India instituted proceedings against Pakistan, accusing the latter of "egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations" in the matter of detention and trial of Jadhav, and sought a stay on his death sentence.

Last month, Jadhav was sentenced to death by the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) for his alleged involvement in espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan.